Count on seeing Hidden Figures and definitely take your daughters to see these black women excelling in math, engineering, and computer operations

It’s the early sixties. Three black women traveling in a blue and white 1957 Chevrolet head to work. Few people would guess that Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) work at the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). One is a mathematician, one an engineer and the other a computer expert. Hidden Figures tells the fascinating story of these three amazing women and the vital roles they play in getting America’s space program off the ground.

The story behind Hidden Figures is incredible on multiple levels. According to a People magazine article, numbers fascinated Katherine Johnson from her earliest days. She counts everything including the number of steps it takes to walk to school. She enters high school at 10 and then graduates from college at 18. Her highly supportive father moves their family as necessary to ensure that she takes full advantage of the educational opportunities offered to her. Dorothy Vaughan graduates from Wilberforce University in Ohio at an even younger age, 16.

Johnson, Vaughan, and Jackson benefit from a NASA program which hired black women during War World II. The agency is so impressed by the mathematic talents of these women (who were called “computers”), it continues the program after the war ends opening the door for later arrivals.

Hidden Figures doesn’t just tell the stories of these three geniuses but provides a portrait of the racial dynamics of that time period. Including the segregated facilities and the closed minds attempting to undermine these women’s efforts and talents. Jim Parsons (of the Big Bang Theory) plays Paul Stafford who works along with Johnson at the Langley Research Center and who undercuts her by not supplying the necessary information to complete her projects. And he deeply resents her checking and sometimes finding errors in his calculations - which is her job.

Kevin Costner plays Johnson’s and Stafford’s boss and often has to referee their disputes and more times than not, sides with Johnson. He is a firm but fair supervisor who is forced to examine the prevailing segregationist policies and their effect on people like Johnson and her ability to do her job. And how she walks a half mile across the NASA campus to go to the segregated, colored women’s bathroom. Or how someone in his own department brings in a separate coffee pot for her rather than have her continue to use the one the rest of the group uses.

Recently deceased astronaut John Glenn reflects an uncommon acceptance and support of the women. When the NASA employees stand outside in a greeting line to meet the astronauts, the white employees are first. After shaking hands with them, a handler directs the astronauts back inside before reaching the black women. Glenn ignores the directive and walks over to speak and shake hands with the ladies. And before his first voyage, he makes clear that he won’t take off until Johnson reviews the computations of the NASA’s new IBM computer.

Overall the film is well done. One interesting scene is when Johnson who is a widow, rips into a man she meets at church (who later becomes her husband) because he’s surprised to find out that she’s a senior mathematician for NASA. The whole world would be surprised at her occupation! Why shouldn’t he? He later apologizes for his close-mindedness.

As to cast diversity Hidden Figures, gets an “A”. It represents the situation as it existed racially at that time.

See Hidden Figures because it has that rare combination of being both educational and entertaining. Also see it because if it’s a box office hit, Hollywood will make more films like it. And we need more films like it. Definitely take your daughters to see these women excelling in math, science, engineering, and computer operations (technology). One final point, in addition to being a member of the composing team to score the music for Hidden Figures, music producer, Pharrell Williams, is also one of the producers of the movie.

Hidden Figures is just over 2 hours at 126 minutes. Rated PG for thematic elements and some language. It gets our highest rating: See It!

The Fleming family, dad, Ned (Bryan Cranston), mom Barb (Megan Mullally), and son Scotty (Griffin Gluck) head to California to spend the holidays with Ned’s and Barb’s older daughter, Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) who attends Stanford. Things unravel quickly. First, rather than staying in the luxury hotel suite that Ned proudly obtained at a discount rate, Stephanie announces that the family will stay with her boyfriend. A boyfriend the family didn’t know she had. When they arrive at his house, it’s some house: a multimillion dollar 21st Century state-of-the-art estate. And her boyfriend, Laird Mayhew (James Franco) turns out to be a wealthy Silicon Valley executive who greets them shirtless displaying a multitude of tattoos, having heard so much more about them from Stephanie. The Flemings reluctantly agree to stay with Laird. Ned is quickly turned off by Laird’s crass behavior: dropping F-bombs with almost every other word, talking openly about private moments with Stephanie and overall just trying too hard to become a member of the family. Why Him? follows the Flemings through the holidays as they get to know this person who might become a member of their family.

Why Him? works on so many levels and gets an overwhelming See It! rating. Conflicts and issues are the keys to any great story. The film has a literal smorgasbord of issues large and small: boyfriend - girlfriend; father – daughter; wife – husband; old school – new school views on relationships; and new technology versus the old way of doing things.

Successful filmmaking thrives on a very basic formula: an interesting story with characters that viewers connect with brought to life by good actors. Why Him? has it all. This movie takes an age old plot – father objects to his daughter’s suitor – but gives it a different twist. Usually, the boyfriend isn’t successful. But here Laird is highly successful, rich, and internationally known. But Ned believes that Laird’s just too crass. However, maybe this film is a bit naïve as to the impact millions of dollars would have on softening Ned’s middle-class attitudes toward his possible son-in-law. After all, Laird does love Stephanie and is fundamentally a nice guy. Also, Ned’s small business is floundering.

One of the weaker aspects of this otherwise solid production starts with Laird’s claim that he’s setting up a foundation which will be run by Stephanie, which raises suspicions with Ned. So he enlists his small business’ tech guy to hack into Laird’s computer to see if Laird really has the resources to fund a foundation. And this effort fails miserably since the very savvy Laird has installed the most sophisticated anti-hacking software. This is an unrealistic and unlikely gesture. Laird’s financials would be public knowledge. Simply googling Laird would yield articles and other information on his wealth.

Why Him? gets an “A” cast diversity. Actor/comedian Keegan-Michael Key plays Laird’s estate manager and life coach. Comedian Cedric the Entertainer is the second in command in Ned’s printing company. And there are other individuals of color in supporting roles.

Why Him? is 111 minutes and rated R for strong language and sexual material throughout. This movie gets a strong See It! rating for its great storylines and solid performances.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by J.K. Rowling, is a See It! or Rent It. I'll leave that up to you!

It is 1926; wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives in New York City from England pausing to hear a speech from a social movement leader ranting against witchcraft and wizardry. While focused on the speaker, one of the several magical creatures Newt has stored in his briefcase escapes. Just when Newt has recaptured the varmint, he has a chance encounter with a local resident Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) who happens to have a case very similar to Newt's. The two accidently grab each other's bag.

Tina Goldstein (Alison Sudol), a witch who is on probation with MACUSA (The Magical Congress of the United States of America), arrests Newt for being an unregistered wizard and takes him to MACUSA, hoping to regain her status. But she warms to Newt and joins him in his search for his lost bag. This leads them on a journey of trying to get the bag, impress the MACUSA, helping Jacob with his goals, among resolving other issues.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is written by J.K. Rowling and is connected to the Harry Potter series. And, I never liked that series. Stories, about a group of British youth learning wizardry, were never very interesting to me. And this cast of characters is even less appealing than Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Fantastic Beasts' story is convoluted and takes more twist and turns than a drunk, cross-eyed mouse in a maze. The imagery is outstanding, but frankly, many of the creatures seem to be thrown in to meet viewer expectations, more so than truly fitting into the flow of the story.

Cast performances are adequate. However, some stood out. Colin Farrell as a wizard and Director of Magical Security for MACUSA was appropriately mysterious and vexing. Dan Fogler, as Jacob Kowalski, enriches the production with a strong performance as an average, decent guy who gets drawn into the world he never knew existed.

As to cast diversity, Fantastic Beasts gets a "C+". Members of the MACUSA are very diverse, including the president, Seraphina Picquery (Carmen Ejogo) who is "black" (Nigerian father, Scottish mother). This film fails in a way many period pieces do, by displaying U.S. urban areas without diverse populations.

Fantastic Beasts is set largely in Manhattan and not only did the many street scenes feature only white people, they were all very well dressed as if no lower income folks were allowed on thoroughfares.

In 1926, there were about 170,000 black people living in Manhattan alone and comprised about 10% of the New York City population and would have been much more visible than shown in this film. At that time black residents would have walked the public streets, to and from work, or shopping just like any other residents.

In fact, New York City's first black police officer, Samuel James Battle, had been sworn in some 15 years earlier in 1911.

Another flaw in period pieces is that they apply current day sensibilities to events which would have been non-issues at that time. Here, a mother beat her son and there was much sympathy for him and fanfare over that fact. Parents beating their children in the 1920s was not only acceptable – but expected - behavior.

The ultimate verdict for this film is Rent It, except if you are a Harry Potter fan, then I would say, "See It!"

Fantastic Beasts is rated PG-13 for some fantasy action violence and is 133 minutes in length.

Allied, an old-fashioned war drama, starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, an actress with a striking resemblance to Angelina Jolie is sure to become a classic film!

She announces to her neighbors that her husband arrives soon. Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) lives among the Westerners residing in 1942 (World War II) Morocco. Her husband, Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) arrives. He meets her friends and they are sufficiently charmed. The couple then goes back to the apartment she rents for them. That's when the coaching begins. Because they are not really married. They have never even met before.

Each is on assignment as a spy. He's a part of Canadian intelligence. She's a French Resistance fighter. The have to convince those around them that they are husband and wife. The sexual tension between the supposedly married couple builds immediately. A little bit more on her part than his. He believes that acting upon their desires would undermine their operation.

Once their assignment is over, he's ordered to London. But now he's in love and asks Marianne to marry him and join him in England. She does. They have a baby girl and all is well until he's given the task of investigating his wife!

Allied, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is a truly outstanding movie and will become a film classic. First and foremost, it succeeds because Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt rock together. They have more chemistry that Pfizer. Their banter is amusing. Max is supposed to be from Paris but Marianne dismisses his French as definitely Quebecois. As they sit outside the first night in Morocco, aware that neighbors are watching, she guides him in appropriate couple behavior and says at this point we would laugh. He responds, "We're married. Why would we LAUGH?"

Marion Cotillard has sort of a Joan Crawford quality. She had to have a large presence in this role. And she did. It would have been easy for her to have been overshadowed by this powerful story and her internationally known, top of his game, co-star, Brad Pitt.

This is an excellent screenplay written by Steve Knight. The characters are rich, the scenes flow fittingly from one to the next, and drama and intrigue builds steadily throughout the film.

I do have to take Allied's filmmakers to task over diversity. Throughout the scenes of military operations in England, there were no black servicemen. According to Timeline Museum, there were 130,000 African-American troops in England during this film's time period. And that does not include thousands of Caribbean soldiers. By the way, there was a great deal of controversy among the white and black American military forces over the British women's attraction to these men they called, the Tan Yanks.

I will give Allied a D+ in cast diversity because it does feature a lesbian storyline.

Despite my diversity cast rating, Allied is a remarkable production. It gets our highest rating, See It!

Allied, opens today, November 23, 2016, is rated R (for violence, some sexuality/nudity, language and brief drug use) and is 124 minutes in length.

It's a bittersweet time. Christmas is approaching. Walter (Danny Glover), a retired auto repair shop owner, tries his best to make the most of the holiday season. But it's hard. He lost the love of his life; his wife, the mother of his four children, his beloved, Grace (Rachel Kylian). Things are not completely somber because his four children, two daughters Rachel (Gabrielle Union) and Cheryl (Kimberly Elise) and his sons, Christian (Romany Malco) and Evan (Jessie Usher) are coming home.

The kids are adults with their own array of issues. Rachel and Cheryl never grew out of their sisterly rivalry. Also, Rachel's trying to make it through law school as a divorced mother of a precocious daughter, Niya (Nadej K Bailey). Rachel also does her best to put the brakes on her old high school flame, Malachi (Omar Epps), who still lives in the neighborhood. Cheryl's husband, (J.B. Smoove) is an ex-NBA player with a wandering eye who constantly relives a winning shot he made in an NBA championship game. Son, Christian is married to Sonya (Nicole Ari Parker), is pre-occupied with running for Congress and is paying very little attention to his wife and two children. Then there's Walter's and Grace's later in life, oops baby, Evan, who is a college football star recovering from an injury.

Also, dropping in is Aunt May (Mo'Nique), Grace's sister, a well-traveled backup vocalist for some of the 80s most famous singers.

Almost Christmas shares with viewers the five days of this family's Christmas get together.

Just from the abbreviated plot summary above you can see that this is a very busy storyline. Half the stuff going on, I didn't even include. That's the problem; it's too much. With a large cast and each individual is dealing with multiple issues, it's sort of a Grand Central Station, on screen.

The film features a successful, educated upper-middle-class black family. Yet the writer, David E. Talbert, embraces standard Hollywood African-American gathering must haves: they have to do a partially or fully choreographed dance; there has to be fisticuffs, and there has to be a gun pulled.

Maybe my experiences are atypical. I have been to hundreds of social events organized and attended by black people and I don't recall a single fight and no guns have ever been displayed. However, I have to admit there have been a few dance lines to breakout!

The film's humor is so predictable and is seen coming minutes before it happens. For example, Cheryl's husband takes a tumble after he climbs on the roof to fix a blinking Santa Claus. And it strays a bit from reality. Like the fact that Christian is in the middle of a run for Congress. As a political junkie, I can say, there are no congressional elections or primaries near Christmas.

Almost Christmas does shine in a couple of ways: like the flashbacks of Walter's and Grace's time together. There is a deep and undeniable love between the two that is obvious from character's glances, making words unnecessary.

This is an outstanding cast. It is good to see Danny Glover, Gabrielle Union, and Kimberly Elise among others on the screen. They individually and as a group, just get it done. Great casting of Nadej K. Bailey as Gabrielle's daughter as they have a very strong resemblance. Speaking of Glover, he has involvement in no less than six films between now and the end of next year!

As to our cast diversity rating, Almost Christmas gets a "B". Of course, the cast is primarily African American with a few white supporting actors, like John Michael Higgins who plays Christian's campaign manager. However, there are no Hispanics or Asians in notable roles.

So what's the verdict on Almost Christmas? It ekes out our highest rating, See It! The overall entertainment value combined with a very strong cast makes it worth a trip to the theater. It's about two hours long and is rated PG-13 (for suggestive material, drug content, and language).

I'm pregnant. Eighteen-year-old Mildred Dolores Jeter, told her 24-year-old boyfriend, Richard Perry Loving. His response, "That's fine." A few days later he decides that they should get married.

This is a situation that has played out, uneventfully, countless number of times: Boy meets girl, girl gets pregnant, and they get married. But this situation was different in some very important ways: It was 1958. Mildred (Ruth Negga) was black. Richard (Joel Edgerton) was white. And they lived in Virginia. And their getting married was illegal. But it wasn't clear if they even knew it. Richard explained to Mildred it would be less paperwork to get married in D.C. So they drove to the nation's capital where they said their vows with Mildred's father witnessing. Afterwards, they returned to Mildred's parents' home in Central Point, Virginia where they would live. At 2:00 am some weeks later, the sheriff and his deputies burst into the Jeter's home, stormed into the young couple's bedroom and arrested them. Loving tells the story of the couple's momentous efforts to have their union recognized in Virginia.

While portions of the film, Loving, drags like toilet paper stuck to a shoe, the historical lessons, strong performances and poignant story makes this a See It!

I have an affinity for movies based on actual events. Especially stories about unlikely heroes. And there are probably no more unlikely world-changers than Mildred and Richard. Two very ordinary individuals whose families had been bound by a long friendship. Socializing and working together. Among their circle, their dating and getting married seemed natural and reasonable. As if they were oblivious to the cultural and more importantly, the legal norms, of the 1950s south.

However, there were some family members questioning their judgment once the legal problems set in. They also learned that the system didn't treat equally. Richard was released after one day in jail and despite being pregnant, Mildred remained behind bars for five days.

While the "story" is the star of the film, the cast is nevertheless, exceptional. Interestingly, both leads Edgerton and Negga are foreign born. Edgerton was born in Australia and Negga in Ethiopia and reared in Ireland. There is some well-deserved Oscar buzz surrounding both performances.

Jeff Nichols wrote and directed Loving. Nichols, a white man from Arkansas, shot the film in 35 mm giving it the visual quality of a movie from that time period. He also opted to focus on the ebbs and flows of Mildred's and Richard's relationship and not the lengthy legal entanglements. However, that focus on them includes a lot of casual conversation resulting in the film being slow in some parts. Ultimately, Nichols must be commended for the way he brings this story to life.

Loving is a fascinating production that captures the lengths people will go when driven by one of the strongest of human emotions – love.

Finally, the irony of the couple having the surname "Loving" cannot go unmentioned.

The movie is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and is two hours and three minutes. And it's a See It!

Kevin's Hart's What Now? Tour is the centerpiece of this film. Hart performs before a record-setting, sold-out performance filmed outdoors in front of 50,000 people at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field. However, the movie opens with a skit which includes Halle Berry and Hart in a spy type role participating in a high stakes card game with Don Cheadle. Hart then leaves that setting to go to Lincoln Federal Field.

Kevin Hart: What Now? is a collection of already seen skits performed in front of a large, impressive audience with big screens and lot of lights.

However, there is no reason to see Kevin Hart: What Now?, now; it gets a Rent It rating.

The opening scene with the undercover agent storyline adds very little to the film and it's as if the comedian is trying to figure out a way to work with the sexy Halle Berry and as if Don Cheadle said, "Hey, man, find me a role in your next movie!" The opening segment seems forced, and doesn't work.

Once the movie moves on to Hart on stage, the routines are the ones his fans have heard before, for example, how he doesn't have lights on his long driveway or how he wouldn't want to be with a woman who survives a mountain lion attack.

Kevin Hart uses the "N" word generally, and the "B" word in reference to women, neither of which is necessary for Hart to be funny.

Of course, Kevin Hart: What Now? has its funny moments like when Hart talks about the impact private school has had on his kids, taking the "edge" off of his son.

But ultimately, Kevin Hart: What Now? is a perfect production for the Rent It rating. Kevin Hart: What Now? is entertaining, but there is no need to rush to see it.

Kevin Hart: What Now? is rated, R for language and adult themes and is 96 minutes in length.

The Girl on the Train is the story of Rachel Watson's life post-divorce. Every day she takes the train into work in New York, and every day the train passes by her old house. The house where she lived with her ex-husband, who still lives there, with his new wife and child. As she attempts to move on from that stage of her life, she starts watching a couple who live a few houses down -- Megan and Scott Hipwell. She daydreams about what she envisions is Megan's perfect life. The two households connect when Rachel's ex-husband and wife employ Megan as their nanny. Things become complicated and troubling when Rachel who battles alcoholism wakes up with a horrible hangover, bloody and bruised from the night before. She knows something terrible has happened. Then come the TV reports: Megan is missing. Rachel remembers seeing Megan the night of her drunken bout and becomes invested in the case, trying to find out what happened to Megan.

The Girl on the Train is entertaining but you have to put aside your sense of realism. Every time Rachel passes the home she resided in with her ex-husband or their neighbors' place, she manages to see something fascinating: someone walking around in their underwear or having sex visible through a window or if they are outside, they're kissing or sitting by a romantic pit fire. These two couples seem to live their entire lives on full display by a passing train.

However, ultimately, this movie works because Emily Blunt as Rachel absolutely shines in the lead role. Blunt fully embodies this multifaceted character which is the key to the success of this movie.

I have written before how difficult character driven films are because they lack special effects which alone provide significant entertainment value thus allowing for a weaker plot. But this is a compelling story with superior acting and it gets a See It! rating.

The film is delivered in a choppy disjointed fashion. But it all comes together in the end.

The Girl on the Train gets a "C" for cast diversity. Set in the highly diverse New York City metropolitan area, the only people of color in minor or background scenes.

The Girl on the Train is rated R for violence, sexual content, language and nudity and is 112 minutes in length. And it's a See It!